Episode 115: Amy P

AmyAge: 24Location: Toronto, CanadaAddiction: Bulimia, exerciseWhat’s Memorable: Her parents basically locking her in the basement so they don’t have to see her food issues. Her severe body dysmorphia. The way she believes that bulimia is her “thing”, what makes her special and unique. Her 100% focus on her eating disorder.

Official synopsis: Amy and her family escaped the violence of apartheid-era South Africa and immigrated to Canada 22 years ago. But Amy suffered from anxiety and low self-esteem, and she became anorexic and, soon after, bulimic. Now she lives alone in the basement of her family’s house and steals from family members to pay for her eating binges. Weighing only 92 pounds, Amy is on the brink of death.

Discussion

28 Responses to “Episode 115: Amy P”

I teach a health class in NYC and I show this episode as part of the Body Image unit. My students, (and I after watching this episode 30+ times) are looking to find out how she is now? Does anyone have information?

“Ew, metal illness cooties! Of course we’ll help you dear, just as long as it’s, like, away from here. Like nowhere near us. What? You didn’t immediately get perfectly healthy after all the zero support and kindness we gave you? LOST CAUSE!”

They seem like genuinely nice people and they’re clearly desperate and upset and stuck in a in a no-win situation, and we’re seeing them after a very log struggle. But damn, if your sick kid asks you to celebrate her health and overcoming a great struggle with her, DO SO. You don’t need to be the human incarnation of the very concept of empathy to understand that, right? Or is that just me?

Family disease is right. The mental illness ick is strong in this one. Poor Amy.

I totally agree with you. That part where they admitted they didn’t want to celebrate her one-year anniversary hit me as very cold and self-serving. I too had a family that wouldn’t discuss or admit any mental illness, and I saw that in this family too. Amy had more wrong with her than just an eating disorder, that’s for sure.

I came here t find out how Amy is doing also. As a recovering addict myself, it infuriated me that her family chose NOT to celebrate her 1 year mark and thought it best to just “MOVE ON” as they called it. NOTHING is further from the truth in my opinion. She is suffering inside and yes, she has caused hurt to all of her family members, but for just ONE MOMENT, couldn’t they all have gotten together and told ONE POSITIVE thing. SAD!!!!

Me too, Patti. If I were Amy, I imagine I would feel unloved. Why was it just to much to ask to celebrate Amy’s year of recovery? Furthermore, as soon as her family realized she had relapsed, why did they not act immediately? The episode seemed to portray family that view Amy as an inconvenience that they are obliged to love, yet find it impossible to do so.

I agree! Milestones are so important in recovery. I do not have addiction issues, but I am bipolar and I recognize the time of year when my bipolar was finally diagnosed. My life has not been peachy keen since then but OMG it feels good to be able to register that discovery on my own personal timeline.

HI guys I was also wondering how amy is doing. I’m newly in recovery again after relapsing and I feel so terribly for her. I hope she is doing well, she had the most admirable sense of insight in her episode.
-Nick

I saw this episode for the first time 3/15/15. It broke my heart, mainly because that could have been me about 20-25 years ago. I still struggle with this issue but I have support & love from my family unlike Amy. I would love to think that her life would have turned out for the better if they did celebrate her successes rather than belittle them & supposed her more. Such a sad outcome for a young woman.

I am watching the episode again now and one of the things that makes me sick is how blase Amy’s sister Lara is about the bullying and abuse she put her sister through. “Kids fight” sure, but calling them bitch and worse is NOT normal or average or okay. I was abused by my older sister and this really struck a chord with me. My family sees what my sister did to me the same way Lara does, but I have no contact with my sister because it affected me and my adolescence in such a negative way.

Also, I want to agree with others that Amy’s family are so selfish and awful for not celebrating her year of health. I’m sure Amy felt she hadn’t done well enough or wasn’t good enough to be celebrated. What a shame. I hope she is still alive and doing well.

Does anyone else wonder why not only Amy, but her parents are so mad at intervention? The Dad in the comments of her blog even complains about “the so called intervention scholarship” and apologizes to her for putting her through it. If my child was as sick as her I would totally call a show… Especially if they are at death’s door.

I think the reason that Amy and her parents were mad is because it has changed Amy’s life. It’s been 7 years since that show aired and she still has strangers come up to her like they know her. I mean her episode was one of the most unforgettable.

This episode was so disturbing, it made me ill watching her stuff in all the food, then go throw it up and exercise herself to death!! She looked awful being so skinny and looked great before the drastic weight loss, but I know ppl with her disorder don’t see themselves the same way others see them. Poor girl, I felt so bad for her, I hope she’s doing better!!

personally, i liked the family just fine. although i do think it’s terrible that they wouldn’t celebrate her one year mark of recovery and their views of mental illness are warped, i’m sure there was no malicious intent behind their actions and they obviously loved her very much. they were sick with worry and did everything they possibly could to help her. the families are always told by the interventionists to set healthy boundaries because they need to be healthy no matter what and that addicts need consequences for their actions, so i cannot understand why candy gave the family a hard time for doing just that. sometimes you have to put your own health and sanity first and if making amy live in the basement, which compared to your typical unfinished basement is a perfectly fine little apartment, helps them remain sane, i see absolutely nothing wrong with that. let’s not forget that she was stealing from everyone and they couldn’t even keep food in the house. when you have to hide food in shoes and the trunk of your car, something has to be done. besides, it’s not like she’s NEVER allowed upstairs.

lastly, everyone that thinks the sister lara is so awful is absolutely ridiculous…they were KIDS! that’s what siblings do, sometimes they torment each other and call each other names, including bitch and worse. my sister and i were awful to each other and we’re very close now. neither one of us harbors any resentment towards the other because we know, as any rational person should, that we were kids and that’s what kids do, and we didn’t mean any of the things we said or did. if it came down to it, i would be right by her side defending her just as i’m sure lara would have done; both as kids AND now.

well, there was nothing for me to “get past” seeing as how that’s normal child/sibling behavior, which is my point. however feelings aren’t always rational so if amy’s relationship with her sister growing up still bothers her, then it bothers her and hopefully she’ll work that out one day. i wasn’t trying to tell amy how to feel, i was only addressing the other commenters’ opinions on lara, i thought that seemed clear by the way i worded my comment but maybe not. but here’s the thing, a person can be hurt by something that doesn’t necessarily have any merit. meaning even though lara didn’t do anything wrong, amy’s hurt feelings are still valid just by the mere fact that they exist. conversely, just bc amy’s hurt feelings exist, doesn’t mean lara is actually guilty or should feel guilty. lara did speak about it during an interview so she does realize how amy feels and i would be willing to bet that even though lara doesn’t OWE amy an apology, she would do it out of love and kindness if that’s what amy needed to hear. at least that’s what i would do and i feel like lara would too. and although we didn’t hear her apologize during the actual intervention, maybe she already had, or has since, or will in the future – there’s still time.